Sydney residents banned from leaving city as coronavirus cluster grows
24 June, 2021
Sydneysiders were largely banned from leaving metropolis Wednesday as Australian authorities rushed to avoid a growing outbreak of the highly contagious Delta COVID-19 variant from spreading to other regions.
More than 30 persons have been diagnosed with COVID-19 because the cluster emerged in the city's Bondi Beach area the other day, the most recent in a string of flare-ups that highlight Australia's difficulty in extinguishing outbreaks.
New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced new restrictions that will apply for another week, like the immediate ban on non-essential travel out of Sydney and limits on social gatherings. Masks will be mandatory in all indoor locations, including offices, as well as at events.
A "very huge proportion" of Sydney's five million residents are at the mercy of the travel ban, which applies to seven municipality areas where COVID-19 cases have already been detected, she said.
Authorities stopped short of ordering the closure of restaurants and bars, but singing and dancing are out, while major events can still just do it with stadium capacity limited by 50 percent.
Officials pleaded with Sydney residents to check out the new rules.
"I know from my experience ... you will find a amount of tiredness and a amount of apathy about the response to the virus," said NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard. "However in a sense, that is a new and more threatening version of the virus and that apathy needs to be swept away."
The most recent outbreak has been associated with a driver for international flight crews who contracted the Delta variant of the virus, that was first discovered in India.
The virus has repeatedly escaped Australian hotels used to quarantine returning travelers, and health experts say the outbreaks will continue until many Australians are vaccinated.
Roughly 6.7 million doses have been administered to date in a population of 25 million, with only a little fraction of these having received both jabs.
Source: japantoday.com